"Big Flakes"...

Snow can be so mesmerizing. It seems the larger
the flakes, the quieter the snowfall becomes.


Photo # 1028_KS10316b.  February, 2010.
(c) Kelly Shipp Photography

'Color and black-and-white"...

 This is the male Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus).

These chunky birds use their stout bills to eat seeds, fruit, and insects.  They spend most of their time out of sight, in the treetops. Their song isn't too different from the American robin.

Adult males are black-and-white birds with a brilliant red chevron extending from the black throat down the middle of the breast. Females and immatures are brown and heavily streaked, with a bold whitish stripe over the eye.

Photo # KS8_9263.  
Location: central Arkansas.
(c) Kelly Shipp Photography.

 

 

Red-shouldered Hawk...

 Juvenile Red-Shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

This is a medium-sized hawk, even though it's in the Buteo genus which is usually the larger hawks. It's diet is very diverse, including small mammals, snakes, lizards, birds, crayfish, mice, large insects, and occasionally fish.  This particular bird was finding worms to eat.

Photo # KSA_0199bwc.
(c) Kelly Shipp Photography

Eastern Meadowlark...

 Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna).
These birds are a treat to see up close and experience their song.

Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge, AR.
Photo # KSA_8530c.  
(c) Kelly Shipp Photography

"String Theory 3"...

Plants can be impressive how they grow. Some see this as chaos, but one physics definition of  chaos is a dynamical system that is extremely sensitive to its conditions. Nature created this chaos from order.

Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas.
Photo # IM5_5285bw.
(c) Kelly Shipp Photography

"Light Traffic"...

The dance of light, shadow and bird traffic play visual dances on the fresh snow.

Photo # IM5_6542bw7. February, 2021.
(c) Kelly Shipp Photography.

"Tan-striped"...

 

Running through the fresh snow, this White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) is the tan-striped morph. Notice the broad eyebrow, behind the eye, is tan, not white.

The White-throated Sparrow comes in two color forms: white-crowned and tan-crowned. The two forms are genetically determined, and they persist because individuals usually mate with a bird of the opposite morph. Males of both color types prefer females with white stripes, but both kinds of females prefer tan-striped males.

Photo # K02_3345_00001ac.
(c) Kelly Shipp Photography.